ARTHUR TRACY
Name: Arthur Tracy
Born: 25 June 1899
Died: 5 October 1997
Arthur Tracy (25 June 1899 - 5 October 1997) was a popular American vocalist,
billed as The Street Singer. His performances in theatre, films and radio, along
with his recordings, brought him international fame in the 1930s. Late evening
radio listeners tuned in to hear announcer David Ross' introduction ("Round the
corner and down your way comes The Street Singer") and Tracy's familiar theme
song, "Marta, Rambling Rose of the Wildwood."
Born Abba Avrom Tracovutsky in Kamenetz-Podolsk, Russia (or Moldavia), he
emigrated to the United States with his parents, sisters, and brother in April
1906. After their release from the Ellis Island Immigrant station, they settled
in Philadelphia. Naturalized in 1913, Tracy's parents became known as Morris and
Fannie Tracy.
In 1917 Tracy graduated from Central High School. He began studying architecture
at the University of Pennsylvania but dropped out to become a professional
singer. He began singing part-time in the Yiddish theatre and vaudeville while
working as a furniture salesman.
After moving to New York City in 1924, he appeared regularly in vaudeville,
joined the Blossom Time touring company and appeared in various New York amateur
revues, where he was seen by William Paley who offered him a 15-minute CBS radio
program.
To avoid embarrassing his family if his show failed and to prevent being
blackballed from future vaudeville bookings for having appeared on radio, Tracy
decided to make his identity a mystery and borrowed a billing from the title of
Frederick Lonsdale's play The Street Singer. Listeners demanded to know his
identity, but it was not revealed until five months after his 1931 debut on CBS.
The following year he was off to Hollywood to appear in The Big Broadcast of
1932 with other radio stars, including Bing Crosby, Kate Smith and the Boswell
Sisters.
In the short film Ramblin' Round Radio Row #5 (1933), his last name is
pronounced "Treecy."
Tracy gave his romantic interpretation to such songs as "When I Grow Too Old to
Dream", "I'll See You Again", "Trees", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "Red Sails
in the Sunset", "Harbour Lights", "The Whistling Waltz" and "Danny Boy". His
1937 recording of "Pennies from Heaven" was featured in the 1981 movie of that
name, with Vernal Bagneris lip-synching to Tracy's voice.
The film brought Tracy out of retirement, and at age 82 he returned as a cabaret
singer at the Cookery in Greenwich Village in 1982. This brought a favorable
review in The New York Times from John Wilson, who wrote that his vocalizing had
"a delightful patina of period charm", adding that Tracy was "a spellbinder,
setting a mood and scene, disarming the doubters by admitting that 'I always put
all the schmalz I had into my songs.'"
Name: Arthur Tracy
Born: 25 June 1899
Died: 5 October 1997
Arthur Tracy (25 June 1899 - 5 October 1997) was a popular American vocalist,
billed as The Street Singer. His performances in theatre, films and radio, along
with his recordings, brought him international fame in the 1930s. Late evening
radio listeners tuned in to hear announcer David Ross' introduction ("Round the
corner and down your way comes The Street Singer") and Tracy's familiar theme
song, "Marta, Rambling Rose of the Wildwood."
Born Abba Avrom Tracovutsky in Kamenetz-Podolsk, Russia (or Moldavia), he
emigrated to the United States with his parents, sisters, and brother in April
1906. After their release from the Ellis Island Immigrant station, they settled
in Philadelphia. Naturalized in 1913, Tracy's parents became known as Morris and
Fannie Tracy.
In 1917 Tracy graduated from Central High School. He began studying architecture
at the University of Pennsylvania but dropped out to become a professional
singer. He began singing part-time in the Yiddish theatre and vaudeville while
working as a furniture salesman.
After moving to New York City in 1924, he appeared regularly in vaudeville,
joined the Blossom Time touring company and appeared in various New York amateur
revues, where he was seen by William Paley who offered him a 15-minute CBS radio
program.
To avoid embarrassing his family if his show failed and to prevent being
blackballed from future vaudeville bookings for having appeared on radio, Tracy
decided to make his identity a mystery and borrowed a billing from the title of
Frederick Lonsdale's play The Street Singer. Listeners demanded to know his
identity, but it was not revealed until five months after his 1931 debut on CBS.
The following year he was off to Hollywood to appear in The Big Broadcast of
1932 with other radio stars, including Bing Crosby, Kate Smith and the Boswell
Sisters.
In the short film Ramblin' Round Radio Row #5 (1933), his last name is
pronounced "Treecy."
Tracy gave his romantic interpretation to such songs as "When I Grow Too Old to
Dream", "I'll See You Again", "Trees", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "Red Sails
in the Sunset", "Harbour Lights", "The Whistling Waltz" and "Danny Boy". His
1937 recording of "Pennies from Heaven" was featured in the 1981 movie of that
name, with Vernal Bagneris lip-synching to Tracy's voice.
The film brought Tracy out of retirement, and at age 82 he returned as a cabaret
singer at the Cookery in Greenwich Village in 1982. This brought a favorable
review in The New York Times from John Wilson, who wrote that his vocalizing had
"a delightful patina of period charm", adding that Tracy was "a spellbinder,
setting a mood and scene, disarming the doubters by admitting that 'I always put
all the schmalz I had into my songs.'"